


Sincerely

by incarnandine



Series: LaviYuu Week 2018 [1]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Historical, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Violet Evergarden AU, ghostwriting AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incarnandine/pseuds/incarnandine
Summary: The days passed, and Lavi felt like he was floating along, focused on his work and the people who came to him and not much else - until spring finally came and with it, a change. On the first day of spring, Komui brought in a new employee: a boy - young man - roughly his age, with hair black as ink and stormy blue eyes permanently drawn into a scowl.(An AU based on theViolet Evergardenseries where Lavi is a ghostwriter who earns his living writing people's feelings into letters and Kanda is an ex-soldier who tries to find a meaning in life - and certain words that someone, once, said to him.)





	Sincerely

**Author's Note:**

> First entry for LaviYuu week!  
>  **Day 1** _(Monday, March 26th)_ : Rain | Spring, Growth, Tears, Sorrow, Life
> 
> I'm aiming for this story to have around four chapters, but the count might change depending on how my writing flows. Hope you enjoy!

Working as a Scribe was one of Lavi's favourite things in life.  
  
With the war finally having ended on New Year's Eve, people slowly filtered back into town; most of them still looking for loved ones and family members, and most of them illiterate, too - therefore, the increased need for ghostwriting companies growing one next to another like flowers after rain.  
  
The things people asked him to write were fascinating; from love letters to official inquiries to worried mothers keeping an eye on their soldier sons, all kinds of feelings and emotions translated into ink on paper, folded into envelopes and carried across the world.  
  
Lavi loved the slow pace of his days in Komui's ghostwriting company: the days gradually becoming longer and warmer as time went, the people pouring their hearts out to him and the careful way in which he had to choose words and expressions to represent what they couldn't say themselves.  
  
It was a calm, predictable life. So different from the days of war, he thought sometimes; it felt bizarre not to be afraid every day, not anymore, but it was not unwelcome either.  
  
The days passed, and Lavi felt like he was floating along, focused on his work and the people who came to him and not much else - until spring finally came and with it, a change.  
  
On the first day of spring, Komui brought in a new employee: a boy - young man - roughly his age, with hair black as ink and stormy blue eyes permanently drawn into a scowl.  
  
As soon as he was introduced ( _Kanda Yuu_ , said Komui in a tone somewhere between worried and proud), Lavi wasted no time in getting to know his new workmate. The first thing he learnt was that Kanda was nowhere near a talkative person; every attempt at befriending him met with either a scowl or an expression so absolutely uninterested Lavi felt bad for even trying. He seemed to treat everyone with the same attitude, so at least Lavi knew it was not directed at him personally; still, faced with that approach, he decided to find his information elsewhere.  
  
The second thing was that Kanda hated the sound of his own name. The reasons for that were - as of yet - unknown; Lavi, however, took notice of the way he visibly flinched every time someone unknowingly tried to call him by his given name or even mentioned in passingly in conversation. He himself knew of many reasons why people would avoid their name, so this came as no surprise to him. He hoped, however, to be able to call Kanda _Yuu_ one day and not be met with a cold, borderline hateful gaze and a thin mouth turned into a frown.  
  
Any attempts to make Komui talk about Kanda were futile. Any attempts to make Kanda talk about himself? Even more so.  
  
The rumors said he came from the military, that he had fought in a war; this, Lavi noticed, could be quite accurate - Kanda carried himself like a soldier, tall and proud, his face devoid of emotions unless someone actually bothered him. How would he fit in as a Scribe, Lavi did not know; the profession of ghostwriting for others needed compassion, empathy, understanding, and Kanda Yuu's blank stare hinted at none at that.  
  
Despite that, he had stayed in the office day after day, doing menial tasks, sometimes shadowing Allen or Lena as they wrote letters for the customers, sometimes just collecting payments or organizing the return envelopes. He always paused longer on those, Lavi noticed; his brow furrowed as if he tried to decipher why have they been returned in the first place.  
  
As days passed, Lavi caught himself staring more and more often at the silent figure sorting letters in the corner of the main office. Kanda was a completely new riddle to unpack, unfold, unravel, and the more time flew by, the more Lavi found himself intrigued. Nobody else in the office paid additional attention to him, which made his observations even easier - it was almost like Kanda was never there at all.  
  
Only sometimes, Lavi caught him staring through the window with something akin to a strange sort of wistfulness in his blue eyes. He was sure that would be the most of their interactions; the watchful silence lasted for a week or two, and then, Kanda started to look back at him.  
  
They still didn't exchange more than a few words in passing, no more than regular greetings in pleasantries, but their eyes met more and more often. The expressions on Kanda's face changed more often, too; from disinterested to curious, disapproving, or sometimes - rarely - mildly amused. Those were the moments Lavi enjoyed the most, always ready to respond with a bright smile of his own.  
  
Kanda never came to shadow him, though. Not even once.  
  
And when he was absolutely sure their interactions would stay wordless, one day he found a note on his desk: short, concise, in a regular, neat, almost printed handwriting. 

_Teach me how to write letters_ , it said; aside from that one request there was nothing - no name, no greetings - but Lavi recognized the author instantly. He smiled and read the note several times over before carefully folding and pocketing it.  
  
He was a step closer to unraveling the mystery of Kanda Yuu and it seemed absolutely, utterly _exciting_.


End file.
